Sharing uselessness with the internet since 2004, for no discernible reason.

Saturday, February 01, 2014

Vexed by lack of vexing in the Super Bowl

In the impending "Big Game" I must admit I'm not sure for which team I'll be rooting.

AND WE ALL KNOW THAT'S NOT RIGHT. One should have an unhealthy allegiance to one side or the other over a contest that holds no actual significance but will be viewed by more people than anything else. What the heck is wrong with me?

On the surface it seems I'd fall back on my childhood allegiance to the Seahawks (who came into the league when I was eight, and whose uniforms I liked... which is really all an eight-year-old requires). However, when I watched part of the AFC Championship I found myself actually a tiny bit excited when it became clear Denver's victory was ensured. I think part of me is rooting for Broncos' quarterback Peyton Manning to get a second ring, if for no other reason than it might cause the sports punditry to shut up about how his relatively poor post-season success detracts from his legacy.

On the other hand, if Seattle pulls out a victory (on the strength of their defense) it will give the Lombardi Trophy to a franchise that has never had it before, and a championship to a city that hasn't had that to celebrate in "the big four" sports since 1979. (Their WNBA and MLS teams have won their respective leagues multiple times in the past decade*, but unfortunately the state of sports in America still doesn't give those their due.) And the kid in me finally gets to cheer.

So really, either way I'll probably be okay with the outcome. As long as it's a reasonably competitive contest (which, with the #1 offense going against the #1 defense, it should be) that will be acceptable.

Yikes. What sort of example am I setting for my son?

~

I didn't note it officially (to the extent writing something down makes it "official") months ago but I had the thought partway through the NFL season that the Super Bowl would be the Seahawks and the Broncos (which, we now know, it will be). Of course, both of those teams had the best records at the time (and ended the season with the top seed in the playoffs), so it wasn't a terribly impressive prognostication. (Hence the reason it was better unmentioned.)

It's probably because I didn't do that back then that it possibly did happen. Or perhaps it was because I immediately doubted it would be the case for the reason I thought it.

Games tend to turn out a given way when I don't believe they will. And to that end, as I watched the NFC Championship I thought (and even noted on Facebook) with the ineptitude of the Seattle offense in the first half that Forty-Niners fans should book their trips to New York (ostensibly the site of the Super Bowl... it's on the poster along with actual location New Jersey).

But I've written about that before (albeit not for a while). So, for the record, it's still very much the case that my relationship with sports remains unchanged.

As such, I will make no prediction about the outcome of the game; there's no need to waste this inadvertent power, especially given what I've noted above about my ambivalence about the outcome.

However, I have a good feeling about the team with the blue helmets. (Thus, apologies to their real fans.)

Ba-dump-chik!

Okay, let's just stop before it gets worse...

~

POST-GAME UPDATE:
Given the lopsided outcome (where the Broncos weren't really in it from the opening snap), apparently I jinxed even that hope for a competitive contest.

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* I'm not going to pretend I didn't have to look that up. Apologies to the Storm and Sounders who deserve better.Image above is of course copyrighted by the NFL. Please don't sue me.